Oh man, ranking Anderson movies is like 7 Sophie’s Choices in a row, but here goes, I guess:

1) The Grand Budapest Hotel – possibly recency bias, but I honestly believe this one may have had the best balance of heart and fastidiousness of all his movies, with killer performances from every single character

2) Royal Tenenbaums – my personal launching point with Anderson and a favourite since seeing it in theatres, though honestly a couple below might be able to leapfrog this with a couple more viewings

3) Rushmore – divisive and prickly, but still a classic for a reason

4) Fantastic Mr. Fox – delightful for all ages

5) Moonrise Kingdom – it actually hurts to place this so low, but considering the four above, what choice is there, really?

6) Life Aquatic – also hurts to put this low, since I have a weird soft spot for this, especially when others could very successfully make the case that it’s not as good as the two below, but I love the drunken Cousteau vibe

7) Bottle Rocket – close to ordinary, but Owen Wilson propels it into something memorable almost singlehandedly (which arguably may not be to Anderson’s credit)

8) Darjeeling Limited – my wife and I disagree on this one (it being one of her favourites of his), and I may even be wrong since I haven’t seen it in years, but I just remember finding it ordinary, and a little maudlin; still, if this is his worst, it’s a damn fine body of work since it’s still a perfectly good movie